Handle lock for suction cleaner apparatus



Feb. 11, 1958 A. H. EBERHART 2,822,566

HANDLE LOCK FOR SUCTION CLEANER APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1953 2 sheets sheet l 32 i 1 .6 FIG.2 Y 9.

I -31 rr fif'VP'T. A I 5 .flflviwvwwmfl I W W F I G INV-ENTOR ARTHUR H.EBER'HART 2L8 ATTORNEY Feb. 11, 1958 A. H. EBERHART 2,822,566

HANDLE LOCK FOR SUCTION CLEANER APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BRAZED I" 39 34 2 a3 RAZ INVENTOR ARTHUR H. EBERHA RT 3 A TORNEY HANDLE LOCK-FOR SUCTIONCLEANER APPARATUS ArthurJH. Eberhart, East Longmeadow, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September28, 1953, SerialNo. 382,627

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-410) Myinvention relates to a suction cleaner of the upright or handle maneuvered type, more particularly to a latching mechanism for latching the body relative to the handle to maintain it in normal or horizontal position when the cleaner is picked up by the handle.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple latching mechanism for automatically latching the cleaner body relative'to the handlewhen the cleaner is picked up by the handle.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a hand actuated member or hand grip on the handle, in a position in which it is engaged by the hand when lifting the cleaner from the floor. The hand operated member or hand grip has limited vertical movement relative to the handle. I also provide a latching mechanism comprising a stop which is fixed relative to the cleaner body and a detent which is movable into abutting engagement with said stop and which is at such time fixed in relation to the handle, thereby preventing the body from dropping down relative to the handle when the cleaner is lifted'by picking up the handle.

These and other objects are effected by the invention as will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,.,forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaner incorporating the :latching mechanism of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section showing the latchingmechanism;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, with parts brokenaway, showing the latching mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing part of: the latching mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view showing the latching mechanism as viewed from the line VV ofFig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the cleaner shown in Fig. 1 comprises a body and a handle 11. The body is disposed horizontally and has wheels 12 for movement over a rugor carpet. The body; 10 includes-the usual nozzle13, and suction .creating means (not shown), the details of which arenot material to the present invention. A dust collecting bag 14; is attached to the body The handle 11 comprises two tubular members 15 and 16, which are spaced from each other except that they are secured to each other at the upper end, at which end is provided a hand grip 17 for actuating the handle in normal cleaning operation. The handle 11 is pivoted to the body 10 by means of a bolt 18, which extends through the end walls 19 and 21 of a bracket which is bolted to the cleaner body, and which bolt also extends through the lower flattened ends of the tubular members 15 and 16.

The latching mechanism for latching the body and the handle to each other to prevent the body dropping down When the cleaner is picked up by the handle, comprises a stop carried by one of these members and a detent carried by or in fixed relation to the other of these members.

States Patent 2,822,566 l atented Feb. 11, 1958 ice ' 22.' The detent is'provided' by a latch lever "23, which is pivoted by a-pivotpint24 to a-bracket.25,'the latter beingfixed relative to the handle; being clamped between -the lower flattened end'of the 'tubular; member 16 and the nut 27 on the bolt18. .-The left handend (215156611 in Figs. 3 and 5) of the latch lever 23 constitutes the detent which is movable into-and outof abuttingrelation with' the-stop 22. A"spri ng28-biases' thelever 23 clockwise into disengaged pbsiti'on.

' To move the'latch-lever into engaging position'I pro vide a hand actuated member'which'is mounted insuch position on the handle l'l that it is 'en'ga'ged'by the hand and moved upwardlyupon picking'up the handle for lifting the cleaner; In the present embodiment, I provide a horizontally-extendinghandgrip 29' extending between the tubular membersand' 16' of the handle. It is disposed within a casing 31 extending across and fastened to the tubular members 15 and 16; the hand grip .projecting below the-lower'open'end of the casing. In'the illustrated embodiment; it is movable between the lower position indicated in-dot-and-dash lines, which is the normal position, and theupper position shown in full lines. The top of the hand grip 29'abuts the casing 31 when the hand grip is'in its upper position so as to transmit the lifting force through thehandzgrip to the handleand the cleaner. So far as the present invention is concerned,

"rod 32 to the end of. the'latch lever 23' remote from the detent; so that as the 'handgrip is raised: the detent is moved into abutting relation to the stop"22. Thewire 32 is preferably extended throughtheinterior of the tubular member 16.

I further provide a bracket 33" of inverted U-shape, which is fastened in fixed relation to the handle by means of a'bushing 34 which isbrazed to the bracket 33 and the flattened lower end-of the tubular handle member 16. The bracket 33 is provided with a slot .35 in which the detent is movable; One side of the1s1ot is adapted to take the thrust imposed on the detent .by the stop.-22 when the cleaner is-lifted: The'bracket33. furtherhas a pin 36 carrying abushing 31 adapted-to engagea ,projection 38 on a spring biased lever 39 for resiliently re,- taining the lever at the lowerrlimitof itsrange of normal inclined operating positions. The handle may, however, be moved -down -to horizontal'position by merely applying 1 greater downward 'forcegi'whereby the "spring force onethe lever 39 -'is-'-overome"and the bushing 37 moves past the projection 38. A tension spring 41 is connected between the cleaner body and the bracket 33 to bias the handle upwardly and to counterbalance its weight in the normal operating position.

Operation In normal operation, the latch lever 23 is biased out of engagement with the stop by the spring 28, so that the handle is freely movable downwardly. The hand grip 29 is retained in its lower position by the force of the spring 28 and by the force of gravity. A spring 30 exerting a downward force on the end of the hand grip 29 opposite the wire 32, may be provided to balance the force exerted by the spring 28. The cleaner is actuated by the hand grip 17.

aszasee "wardly relative to the cleaner and through the wire 32 rotates the latch lever 23 to move the detent into abutting relation to the stop 22. Upon further upward movement of the hand, the lifting force is transmitted through the hand grip 29, the casing 31, the handle and the pivot bolt 18 to the cleaner body. The weight of the cleaner body imposes a force tending to rotate it clockwise (as seen in Fig. 2) about the pivot bolt 18 and this force is transmitted by the stop 22 against the detent and by the detent against the edge of the slot 35 in the U-shaped bracket 33. Thus, the cleaner body is prevented from dropping down relative to the handle as it is picked up.

When the cleaner is put down and the hand grip 29 is released, the latter moves downwardly under the force of gravity and the spring 28, the latter rotating the lever latch 23 out of engagement with the stop 22. The handle is now resiliently retained in vertical position by the spring 41 but it is freely movable downwardly into the operating range. I

From the above description, it will be seen that I have provided a mechanism whereby the body and the handle are latched against relative movement automatically by the normal act of lifting the cleaner without the necessity of the user performing any additional controlling act.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A vacuum cleaner comprising a body, a handle pivoted to said body rearwardly of the center of gravity thereof, and mechanism for latching the handle inupright position against rearward movement, said latching mechanism comprising a stop carried by and fixed relative to said body, a detent pivotally mounted on said handle in a position in which it is adapted to abut said stop to prevent rearward movement of the handle relative to the body when the handle is in vertical position, means for biasing said detent to pivot out of abutting relation with said stop, a hand grip portion carried by said handle in a position to be engaged by the hand for lifting the cleaner and having limited vertical movement relative to the handle when the handle is in a vertical position, and a connection between said hand grip and said detent such that when the hand grip is raised to lift the cleaner, the detent is pivoted into abutting relation to said stop to hold the body in horizontal position as it is lifted through the hand grip and the handle. I 4

2. The combination with a body and a handle pivoted thereto, said body being adapted to be maneuvered over a horizontal surface by said handle and said handle being movable relative to said body through a range of operating positions in which the handle is inclined and to a substantially vertical position, of locking mechanism for locking said body relative to said handle for lifting said body, said locking mechanism comprising a cooperating stop and a latch carried by said body and said handle, respectively, a hand grip portion carried by said handle and adapted to be engaged by the hand to lift the body by means of the handle, said hand grip being vertically movable relative to said handle when the handle is in a vertical position, means actuated by said hand grip upon upward movement relative to said handle to move said latch into engagement with said stop to lock the body relative to the handle, and means for biasing said latch out of engagement with said stop upon downward movement of said hand grip to permit movement of the handle downwardly to an inclined operating position.

3. A suction cleaner comprising a body having suction creating means therein, a handle pivoted to the body on a horizontal axis and movable vertically relative to the cleaner through a range of inclined positions to a substantially vertical position, latching mechanism comprising cooperating parts carried by said body and said handle, respectively, which are engageable when the handle is substantially vertical and the body in normal position to retain the body against downward movement relative to said handle, said parts being normally out of latching engagement, a hand grip on said handle whereby the cleaner may be lifted, said hand grip having limited vertical movement relative to the handle when the handle is in a vertical position, and means for effecting latching engagement of said parts upon upward movement of said hand grip relative to said handle, whereby, upon lifting the cleaner by raising the hand grip, the body is automatically latched to retain it in normal position.

4. The combination with a body and a handle pivoted thereto, said body being adapted to be maneuvered over a horizontal surface by said handle and said handle being movable relative to said body through a range of operating positions in which the handle is inclined and to a substantially vertical position, of locking mechanism for locking said body relative to said handle, said locking mechanism comprising a stop and a cooperating pivoted detent movable into abutting relation to said stop to prevent relative movement of said body and said handle from a position in which they are substantially at a right angle to each other, a hand grip carried by said handle whereby the body may be lifted through the handle, said hand grip being movable longitudinally of the handle, and a connection between said pivoted detent and said hand grip for moving the detent into abutting relation with said stop upon movement of the hand grip away from the pivoted end of the handle, whereby when the hand grip is raised to lift the device, its movement relative to the handle causes the detent to move into locking engagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,575,028 Bates Mar. 2, 1926 2,460,236 Osborn Jan. 25. 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 665,043 Great Britain Jan. 16, 1952 

